1967 Cub Low Boy Not Really a Low Boy

[REDINTHEHEAD]

I just bought a pair of one owner Cubs today. 1951 and 1967. The 1967 is quite a gem. It was used to plow a 1/2 mile driveway then back in the attached garage!!! I think today's was it's first daylight since 1987. Anyhow it has the factory snow plow, original tires, paint, decals and what I believe is factory amber flashers on the rear. Serial number is 230848 J. It is decaled as a Low Boy. It obviously is not. The family said those have been on since day one. No roll overs or hood replacements. Then as I was loading it I realized the drive units are red. Any Ideas??? The hood is actually taller then 51 or my own 55. Did the factory or dealer Change their mind on it being a Low Boy? At some point did they start calling all Cubs Low Boys? I'm confused and ready to go back to big Red tractors

[Jim Becker]

Clearly something isn't quite right about your '67. Post some pictures so we can start making some guesses as to what the story may be.

[REDINTHEHEAD]

OK pictures may have to wait until the weekend. We rolled them into the storage shed with no electricity late last night. It will be dark before I get home all week.

[REDINTHEHEAD]

Just these two when I picked them up.

[Lt.Mike]

I just bought a pair of one owner Cubs today. 1951 and 1967. The 1967 is quite a gem. It was used to plow a 1/2 mile driveway then back in the attached garage!!! I think today's was it's first daylight since 1987. Anyhow it has the factory snow plow, original tires, paint, decals and what I believe is factory amber flashers on the rear. Serial number is 230848 J. It is decaled as a Low Boy. It obviously is not. The family said those have been on since day one. No roll overs or hood replacements. Then as I was loading it I realized the drive units are red. Any Ideas??? The hood is actually taller then 51 or my own 55. Did the factory or dealer Change their mind on it being a Low Boy? At some point did they start calling all Cubs Low Boys? I'm confused and ready to go back to big Red tractors

I would guess that it was a Lo-Boy and the dealer switched out the finals and front spindles to make it a regular Cub to serve the requirements by the customer.
Dealers back in those days were a lot more accommodating and motivated to make a sale and the customer happy.

[Lt.Mike]

Decals don’t mean much on a tractor this old as a lot can happen in 50 years but seeing the pics there’s two dead giveaways that this started life as a Lo-Boy and that’s the bent shifter and the rigid seat mount.

[Bob McCarty]

I would guess that it was a Lo-Boy and the dealer switched out the finals and front spindles to make it a regular Cub to serve the requirements by the customer.

I don't think the finals can be that easily swapped, or more guys today would make Loboys. Also, the bent shifter is standard with the deluxe seat.

[REDINTHEHEAD]

Very interesting! I have no experience with Low Boy models but I knew this one was weird. Didnt Low Boys have a different serial number range as well?

[Jim Becker]

The bent shifter and rigid seat mount were part of the deluxe seat when on a standard Cub, which this tractor has.

The serial number is definitely for a standard Cub. One possibility is a hood swap from a Lo-Boy. That could have happened when it was new or near-new. It could have been been due shipping damage. Red final drive housings suggest more to the story.

[Don McCombs]

From the photos, all seems to be correct, except the decals.

Several theories...

The hood was repainted and the wrong decal was used or the hood was replaced with one from a Lo-Boy at some point since 1967.

On Cubs of that vintage, the castings were primed with a product similar in color to red oxide primer. Is the paint on the finals actually IH red paint or is it a sort of dried blood color. A thorough inspection may reveal yellow paint in some of the recesses.

[Lt.Mike]

Very interesting! I have no experience with Low Boy models but I knew this one was weird. Didnt Low Boys have a different serial number range as well?

There it is, and it’s so obvious I don’t know why it wasn’t brought up. Yes they do have very low 4 digit numbers and it will say big and bold “Lo-Boy” right on the tag.

[Lt.Mike]

I would guess that it was a Lo-Boy and the dealer switched out the finals and front spindles to make it a regular Cub to serve the requirements by the customer.

I don't think the finals can be that easily swapped, or more guys today would make Loboys. Also, the bent shifter is standard with the deluxe seat.

Live and learn. I’ve got my neighbors square nosed deluxe seat loboy now with the bench seat which has the bent shifter. We don’t have many square nosed regular Cubs our way of those years. In those years our area used them for mowing duty so Lo-Boys were preferred.
There are two for sale on the vine to prove you point. Hadn’t noticed it till now. You can see the bent shifter clear as day under the seat.

And here is a ‘64 with a pan seat with the straight shifter.

[inairam]

The serial number is that of a 1967 standard cub. Look at the engine SN and the costing code but this looks like a very nice Cub. My guess is that you will find the numbers consistent with a 67.

The steering is a little different the floor pan is different. It is a lot of work to convert a cub from one to the other. And you still have the sn issue.

I do not know why this is but I have seen red finals on a yellow cub. I just assured some PO did a swap instead of a repair. Maybe it was a production issue and they used spare red parts in production. I do not know. 1967 would be 3+ years into yellow and white livery for the cub. Hard to say just guessing.

Unless the bolster and sn tag were swapped out -the hood was repaired/repainted and wrong stickers were used? The hood was swapped out?
Maybe it was in for service and someone put on the wrong hood for a loboy and it was not noticed?

I think a simpler answer is the hood got swapped on purpose or by mistake.

[indy61]

It looks to me like it may have had some minor front end damage early in it's life.
The grille surround,doglegs,fan shroud look a little fresher paint as do the front rims.
The hood could have been repaired/replaced/repainted and the wrong decals applied.

[REDINTHEHEAD]

Maybe it fell off the delivery truck. I'm excited to have time to wash it and spend some time with it. I think it's really going to wash up and look amazing. I took the seat cushion off and put it in my truck and noticed the wood on the bottom is stamped 67 very large. The seat pads are minty. Ill update the pictures and description when I get a chance.